Did I see Bob Hoover perform?

[Dallas]

I went to an airshow south of Dallas during the last half of the 1970's....
I'm guessing 1978.

Rockwell International sponsored a flight display with both a P-51 and a
Commander. I remember being astounded that a business twin could perform
like that. From what I remember of the performance, it seemed very much
like Bob's videos. Of course, in those days I had no idea who Bob Hoover
what.

So, did I get to see the great Bob Hoover?

--
Dallas

[Dudley Henriques[_2_]]

Absolutely. That was Bob. He would often switch aircraft during a show
weekend flying first one than another. I've seen him fly the 51, then get
into the Shrike, then into an OV10. Sometimes if his own bird was down, he
would "borrow" a 51 from friends to fly a show.
I once loaned him Howie Keeke's "Miss America" when he had to put his own
Mustang in on one wheel when the other main wouldn't extend. That was at
Transpo in 1972 down at Dulles.
Bob's quite a showman. The only restriction we put on hm that day in letting
him fly Miss A was not to do the one wheel landings. In our opinion, no
matter HOW good you are, and Bob is indeed GOOD, you can easily put undue
stress on the main gear struts with those one wheel landings of his :-))
Dudley Henriques
Manager Miss America Transpo 72 :-)


Dallas" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> I went to an airshow south of Dallas during the last half of the
> 1970's....
> I'm guessing 1978.
>
> Rockwell International sponsored a flight display with both a P-51 and a
> Commander. I remember being astounded that a business twin could perform
> like that. From what I remember of the performance, it seemed very much
> like Bob's videos. Of course, in those days I had no idea who Bob Hoover
> what.
>
> So, did I get to see the great Bob Hoover?
>
> --
> Dallas

[Dudley Henriques[_2_]]

That's Howie Keefe instead of Keeke's Miss A. Sorry...fat fingers :-)))
DH

"Dudley Henriques" > wrote in message
...
> Absolutely. That was Bob. He would often switch aircraft during a show
> weekend flying first one than another. I've seen him fly the 51, then get
> into the Shrike, then into an OV10. Sometimes if his own bird was down, he
> would "borrow" a 51 from friends to fly a show.
> I once loaned him Howie Keeke's "Miss America" when he had to put his own
> Mustang in on one wheel when the other main wouldn't extend. That was at
> Transpo in 1972 down at Dulles.
> Bob's quite a showman. The only restriction we put on hm that day in
> letting him fly Miss A was not to do the one wheel landings. In our
> opinion, no matter HOW good you are, and Bob is indeed GOOD, you can
> easily put undue stress on the main gear struts with those one wheel
> landings of his :-))
> Dudley Henriques
> Manager Miss America Transpo 72 :-)
>
>
> Dallas" > wrote in message
> .. .
>>
>> I went to an airshow south of Dallas during the last half of the
>> 1970's....
>> I'm guessing 1978.
>>
>> Rockwell International sponsored a flight display with both a P-51 and a
>> Commander. I remember being astounded that a business twin could
>> perform
>> like that. From what I remember of the performance, it seemed very much
>> like Bob's videos. Of course, in those days I had no idea who Bob Hoover
>> what.
>>
>> So, did I get to see the great Bob Hoover?
>>
>> --
>> Dallas
>
>

[john smith[_2_]]

In article >,
Dallas > wrote:

> I went to an airshow south of Dallas during the last half of the 1970's....
> I'm guessing 1978.
>
> Rockwell International sponsored a flight display with both a P-51 and a
> Commander. I remember being astounded that a business twin could perform
> like that. From what I remember of the performance, it seemed very much
> like Bob's videos. Of course, in those days I had no idea who Bob Hoover
> what.
>
> So, did I get to see the great Bob Hoover?

Yes, you did.

[gatt]

"Dallas" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> I went to an airshow south of Dallas during the last half of the
> 1970's....
> I'm guessing 1978.
>
> Rockwell International sponsored a flight display with both a P-51 and a
> Commander. I remember being astounded that a business twin could perform
> like that.
>
> So, did I get to see the great Bob Hoover?

More likely than not. The Commander was basically his trademark, second
only to the straw hat.

I met a P-38 vet a few years ago who wore a straw hat. Somebody mentioned
it and his wife said "He only wears it because Bob Hoover does" to which he
grinned and replied "You're damned right."

-c

[Dallas]

On Mon, 4 Jun 2007 16:16:47 -0400, Dudley Henriques wrote:

> Absolutely. That was Bob.

It's funny it took me this long to put that together... the mind is a
terrible thing. :-)

I'll say this, I've been to my share of airshows and the fact that I still
remember that specific performance says a lot about his abilities.

I'm pretty sure he flew the P-51 in that show also.


--
Dallas

[vincent norris]

> Rockwell International sponsored a flight display with both a P-51 and a
> Commander.
>
> So, did I get to see the great Bob Hoover?

Almost certainly! I know of no one else who flew those two aircraft.
(The twin was actually a Shrike, IIRC.)

vince norris
>

[Dave[_3_]]

Do any videos exist of his Shrike routine?

Dave



On Mon, 04 Jun 2007 19:45:35 -0400, vincent norris >
wrote:

>> Rockwell International sponsored a flight display with both a P-51 and a
>> Commander.
>>
>> So, did I get to see the great Bob Hoover?
>
>Almost certainly! I know of no one else who flew those two aircraft.
>(The twin was actually a Shrike, IIRC.)
>
>vince norris
>>

[John Clear]

In article >,
Dave > wrote:
>Do any videos exist of his Shrike routine?
>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUVWHUR5OEI

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/